A while back, Ryan Clements posted an awesome blog about gaming with OCD. Earlier that term I had written a short essay, based on an article I read on Kotaku, for my Psych 203 class that deals with the same issue. The essay was a "reflection" which basically means that you relate the material in the textbook to your personal experience. I wrote it in twenty minutes and still haven't proofread it. The essay definately lacks refinement, but who the hell cares? I want to share it. So here it is:

Obsessively Playing Video Games

It's no secret that those of us who play video games definitely have some semblance of OCD. In the Sci-Fi series Mass Effect, Commander Shepard is presumably the greatest soldier. Therefore, every battle must be perfectly fought, every weapon upgraded attained and maxed... etc. The correct rounds must be used in every instance (god forbid you would use disruptor rounds on an organic enemy.) In fact, losing a single bar of health, or perhaps allowing a squad mate to fall in combat (Shepard is supposed to be the perfect leader), can cause some player to reload the game (losing a half hour of gameplay) or even play the entire 40 hour game again... or worse the entire 100+ hour Mass Effect trilogy. Similar obsessive behaviors are seen in players of many other games, most notably in arcade games.

Recently, an article on Kotaku has addressed this issue. The author, who claims to be OCD himself, writes about OCD problems he has with Super Mario 3D Land. The author loves to complete games. Find every secret, explore every passage way, and achieve every accolade. However, his problem lies with a certain achievement. In the game, if the player defeats every stage without dying more than 5 times, they are rewarded with glittering stars on their profile. while researching the game, the author learned that if you die 5 times you cannot get the stars without restarting the entire game. Whether or not he has started the game over or not, he did not say.

If has not started playing the game again, perhaps he is not as OCD as he thinks. However, I do the the anxiety and the compulsion (replaying the stage, the game, or the series) that I have noticed with many players. While perhaps he can't be positively diagnosed, as it doesn't appear to interfere with his life, I still find it interesting and relatable. Would if he got to the point where he was playing a game he no longer enjoyed because he had to? the cycle of repeating behaviors to relieve anxiety is definitely appealing (even more so when it is successful)). And if you love the game enough, the cycle is even enjoyable.

Out of all the disorders we discussed in the last chapter, I find OCD to be the most interesting. But at the same time it is really sad. The Author expresses anger at a Mario game. Anger and frustration are not fun. It's understandable, the author feels as if he is being punished for failure while playing a recreational game. Is this what OCD makes people deal with? From reading this article, I have gained more insight on what a massive burden OCD really is.

WIth Role Playing Games that feature gigantic worlds, deep skill trees, an ocean of items to collect, and legions of enemies to battle, it is no wonder that people invest hours of their time into them. Couple that with an anxiety disorder that prompts you to devote even more time to these expansive worlds, and you just might lose track of time. It's a little saddening (partially because I see some of these problems in mysefl) that people are slaves to anxiety. Even a recreational activity that SHOULD be considered therapy becomes a slave driver... the world is a complicated place.

And that's my essay. Make sure to pick up Kingdoms of Amalur by the way. The game is fantastic, and it drives me nuts that nobody plays it.